Particle Growth and Film coating in a Fluidized Bed Granulator

Abstract

Fluidized bed granulation is a process of converting atomizable liquids eg. Suspension, solution or melts into coarse, granular solids, which is either governed by coating or agglomeration, which depends upon the operating conditions and the physico-chemical properties of the raw material. The main objective of granulation is to improve the flow properties and compression characteristics of the mix, and to prevent segregation of the constituents. It has application in fertilizer, pharmaceutical, food processing, and etc. industries. The effect of various process parameters on the final size and nature of the granular product is always of interest and this has been actively studied by researchers in the past two decades. In this work the granulation of some powder material (calcium carbonate, titanium dioxide, and sugar powder) has to be studied experimentally in a laboratory fluidized bed. Granules are to be produced using water and other materials (sucrose solution and starch solution) as the binder. Effect of granulating liquid flow rate, granulating liquid concentration, fluidizing air flow rate, fluidizing air temperature is to be studied. The present work also aims at fundamentally understanding and precisely determining the effect of different operating conditions on coating quality in a jetting fluidized bed where the coating agent is sprayed as liquid droplets into the bed.